Top Ten Men

I LOVE the 70's....does this mean we can expect the 80's next week? Idolmama trembles with anticipation...anyway, back to tonight. Overall, a very strong showing by the guys, I found something to enjoy about each performance and they are all singing to win.

To sum up the evening: my hubby walked in late, catching only the evening's final performance (but what a one to catch!). Without time to watch the entire broadcast, I replayed for him only two performances. First one was Jason Castro. While the judges disliked his semi-acoustic rendition of Andy Gibb's "I Just Want To Be Your Everything" and Simon called it "shmaltsy" at least twice (whatever that means), I absolutely loved it. First of all, love the song, love his almost folksy, stripped-down take on it....agree with Paula that the switch-up from acoustic to band to acoustic was fresh, and instead of being "weak" (said Simon), I call it "Idoltastic!"

Second replay performance was from Chikezie, who gets this week's Most Improved Idol Award. Night and day from last week. This week we saw energy, charisma, soul...what a difference a week makes! Could be, too, that I am still positively transferring energy from the awesome Elliot Yamin who brilliantly delivered this song in season 5....but I suddenly like Chikezie again, and I think his performance will find him safe this week.

Other worthy performances, although not worthy enough to delay the hubby's putting the kids to bed (that's what TiVo is for), were, in no particular order, The Three Davids! No doubt, David Archuleta's fan base is growing. I love the kid, and even though it was a little risky of a song (Wikipedia: "Imagine" is widely considered to be one of the greatest songs of all time), Simon had to admit that it worked. Not to speak too soon, but I can honestly see this kid winning the whole thing. Ladies, take note!

David Hernandez came alive tonight and is a vocal force to be reckoned with. Last week he was flat and somewhat dull, and we saw no hint of the brilliant vocals we saw in Hollywood....well, here they were! His version of Motown's "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone" delivered the personality and expression from him that we had been missing....plus I loved that he gave a post-performance nod to the band (always courteous) and that he got a Standing O from Paula and others. He deserved it, and he needed it to stay alive and have hopes of cracking the Top 12.

Finally, while I'm not a huge fan, David Cook had a great performance tonight. I don't know why it's a battle, but Randy pronounced him the true "rocker" of this year's men....so, what, David Cook went back and pierced his pinky toe and ate raw meat for dinner? I don't know what to make of that (and neither does Robbie Carrico). In any event, Cook's "All Right Now" was kind of Daughtry-esque and I liked the guitar.

His name isn't David, but Michael Johns was solidly in the middle tonight. His fan base will easily carry him through another week (and his tennis revelation will garner at least 100 votes from SuzE!) but he's got to realize that each week is a new competition, and if he's not careful, he will be singing Fleetwood Mac's "Go Your Own Way" for real. In the same category, Robbie Carrico showed us that, in fact, he does have hair under that doo-rag....but he didn't impress. I see that he graduated from the Bo Bice School of Mic Stand Holding, but he's got to step it up to stay in it.

In the "you betta cross your fingers" group for me tonight were Danny Noriega, Luke Menard and Jason Yeager. All had better performances this week than last, which is a good thing, and for Danny that meant better vocals, and for Luke that meant better expression and delivery, and for Jason that meant....hhhmm......BUT....Danny may still have to fight for fan votes, Luke is still holding back on us for those killer vocals and personality, and Jason is, well, probably going home.

Paula was lucid! I was grateful. Maybe that "hit song" Ryan mentioned is the ticket....what did you think of our Top 10 Men?